Improvement in marquetry



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH DILL, OF BOSTON, ASSIGNOR TO EZRA H. BRABROOK, OF

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IM PROVEM ENT IN MARQUETRY.

Specication forming part o'f Letters Patent No. 199,522, dated January 22,1878; application filed May 15, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH DILL, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Marquetry, which improvement is fully set forth and described in the following specification and accompanying drawings.

The original or English method of making and laying marquetry iiooring consisted in making the inlays of straight pieces of lumber with perpendicular edges. These inlays were held in place by means of glue, and frequently warped and became loose. To obviate this difficulty the inlays were made beveled or j shaped, or otherwise furnished with projections, so that when driven into the corresponding grooves in the lumber they were held iirmly in place therein.

There is an important objection to this method of preparing the inlays. This is the great amount of stock wasted. The piece of stock providing the inlay must, of course, be as wide as the widest portion of the inlay. The widest portion is, of course, the portion hidden beneath the surface of the iloor-that which holds it in place in the lumber. It is, in some instances, two or more times as wide as the surface of the inlay. This Waste in a large iioor is very great.

By means of my invention I obviate the difiiculty, and provide a marquetry inlay which is cut from a piece of wood no wider than the surface of the inlay, thus entirely preventing the waste of stock above alluded to, and greatly cheapening the cost of marquetry.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view, in perspective, of a piece of lumber containing the inlay, and forming marquetry for iooring. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the piece of marquetry shown in Fig. 1.

a represents a piece of lumber to be used in marquetry iiooring, and b is the inlay.

It will be seen that the upper portions c of the sides of the inlay b are perpendicular or at a right angle to the surface of the iioor w, so that the igure or design produced by the marquetry is not marred or injured by subsequent planingor wear, as is the case when the side is beveled.

In order to key the inlay and lumber together, a female dovetail, d, is made in the inlay, into which a corresponding male dovetail in the lumber iits. If a male dovetail be used, as in Letters Patent No. 118,595, granted August 29, 1871, or a beveled side, the piece from which the inlay is cut must, of course, be as wide as the extreme Width of the dovetails. The same is true in a 1 -shaped dovetail, as in Letters Patent No. 148,739.

By means of my female dovetail d, the inlay c requires no Wider stock than the width of the surfaceof 'the inlay. The entire width of stock is utilized, and while it is no wider beneath than at the surface, it is firmly held in position. Thus no stock is wasted, and the expense of marquetry, which has been its only objection, is lessened.

There are other advantages connected with this improvement which need no mention here.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A marquetry floor or other surface consisting of a layer of lumber provided withone or more inlays, forming a part of said surface, the extreme width of which inlays is no greater than their surface width, said inlays having perpendicular edges next the surface, and be ing held in position by one or more tenons, tongues, or other projections, extending from and being a part of the main lumber, and entering said inlays below the surface, substantially as herein set forth.

J OSEBH DILL.

Witnesses:

HENRY W. WILLIAMS, B. W. WILLIAMs. 

